PART 2
PART 2 — The Ghost From Project Atlas
The shooting range fell silent.
Not because of the bullseye.
Not because a waitress had outshot professional marksmen.
Because of two words.
"Atlas Seven."
Sofia froze.
The rifle suddenly felt heavier in her hands.
Her heartbeat accelerated.
Nobody in the crowd understood what had just happened.
But Sofia did.
And President Malcolm Graves did.
For ten years she had lived under a different name.
Worked ordinary jobs.
Moved from city to city.
Avoided cameras.
Avoided attention.
Avoided questions.
Now, in a single moment, everything was collapsing.
The president stared at her.
Unable to believe what he was seeing.
"You can't be Atlas Seven."
Sofia slowly lowered the rifle.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
A lie.
A terrible lie.
And Malcolm knew it immediately.
Because he remembered.
Ten years ago, Project Atlas had recruited the most gifted young marksmen in the country.
Boys.
Girls.
Prodigies.
Children capable of impossible precision.
Among all of them, one stood above the rest.
Atlas Seven.
A seventeen-year-old girl who never missed.
Not once.
Not during training.
Not during competitions.
Not during military evaluations.
Never.
Then one night the program disappeared.
The government shut it down.
Records vanished.
Personnel vanished.
And according to official reports...
Atlas Seven died in a training accident.
Yet here she stood.
Alive.
The crowd watched in confusion.
Eric Dalton finally found his voice.
"What the hell is Atlas Seven?"
Nobody answered.
Because before Malcolm could speak, another voice interrupted.
"Enough."
Everyone turned.
A black SUV had arrived beside the range.
Then another.
And another.
Men in dark suits stepped out.
The atmosphere changed instantly.
Even security personnel looked nervous.
Malcolm's expression darkened.
Because he recognized them.
Federal Intelligence Division.
People who never appeared without a reason.
The lead agent approached.
His eyes locked on Sofia.
Not on Malcolm.
Not on Eric.
Only Sofia.
The agent stopped three feet away.
Then quietly asked:
"Are you Sofia Brooks?"
Silence.
The crowd waited.
Sofia didn't answer.
The agent continued.
"Or should I say..."
His voice lowered.
"Captain Sophia Bennett."
Gasps spread through the audience.
Captain?
Military?
Nobody understood.
Eric felt his stomach drop.
Because every new revelation made his earlier behavior look worse.
Much worse.
The agent handed Sofia a sealed envelope.
She stared at it.
Not touching it.
Not moving.
Almost afraid.
Finally she accepted it.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Then she opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
The moment she saw it...
the color drained from her face.
For the first time all day...
she looked frightened.
Genuinely frightened.
Malcolm stepped closer.
"What is it?"
Sofia said nothing.
Her hands trembled.
The photograph slipped from her fingers.
Landing face-up on the concrete.
Malcolm picked it up.
Then froze.
The image showed a man.
Older.
Gray-haired.
Scarred.
A man Malcolm hadn't seen in ten years.
A man officially declared dead.
A man connected to Project Atlas.
The only instructor Sofia ever trusted.
Colonel Nathan Reed.
Atlas Program Director.
Dead.
Or at least...
supposed to be.
Malcolm looked back at Sofia.
His voice barely above a whisper.
"Nathan is alive?"
Sofia's eyes filled with emotion.
Because Nathan Reed wasn't just her commander.
He had saved her life.
Protected her.
Raised her after her parents died.
He was the closest thing she had ever had to family.
Then the agent delivered the sentence that changed everything.
"We found him three days ago."
Silence.
The crowd watched.
Completely lost.
The agent continued.
"He's alive."
A pause.
"And he asked for you."
Sofia couldn't breathe.
Ten years.
Ten years believing he was dead.
Ten years running from ghosts.
And now one of them had returned.
Then the agent handed her a second envelope.
This one contained only a single handwritten note.
Sofia immediately recognized the handwriting.
Nathan's handwriting.
Shaking, she unfolded the paper.
Only one sentence was written inside.
A sentence that made her knees nearly give out.
END OF PART 2
The note read:
"They lied about why Atlas was destroyed."
At the bottom was a location.
A date.
May you like
And one final warning.
"Come alone. Someone inside the government wants you dead."
